Lea Ryan's splendiferous journal of semi-coherent ramblings

Monthly Archives: June 2012

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Today is a most glorious Friday! Destined for Darkness is now available in print. If you already bought and/or read MacDowell Sisters and AnnaBeth, it’s pretty much the same book.

Here is a pic of what it looks like.

Pretties! It’s sitting on a shipping envelope because it’s getting ready to head on out to the Goodreads giveaway winner. That lucky ducky gets the proof copy because I lost track of my dates. It’s one of a kind.

If you want a print copy of your very own, it is currently available at CreateSpace here.

Holy crap, it is HOT outside. I do not wish to be out there. No, I do not. I walked out of the office today and the heat all but smacked me in the face. I couldn’t imagine living in one of the really hot states or countries where the weather is like this often. I guess you would probably get used to it eventually.

On to some behavioral observations.

Lately I’ve noticed people trying really hard to be perceived as something they find admirable. They have fixated on some trait that they want people to notice about them, whether it’s intelligence or wealth or appearance. Then they go at that trait with a fervency that nears obsession.

The exertion manifests in a certain kind of…almost anger. And if the value of that trait or their notion that they possess that trait is somehow threatened, they freak out a little.

Was it happening all along and I just didn’t notice? Or is the heat scrambling their brains? Who knows? I don’t! But I am kind of fascinated by the behavior. There’s a certain level of insecurity there, I think, that makes them grab onto this one thing so hard that their knuckles go white and their jaws clench.

I just want to ask them, what makes you so intent on people viewing you this way? I want to know what the motivations are. What do they expect to gain? I can’t ask, though. People don’t like when I ask questions like that. I guess it’s rude or something. I shall continue to observe.

So, I was perusing the real estate listings in my newspaper this last Sunday. I spotted a “dream house” listing. The price for the humble abode – $5,500,000. That’s right, 5 mill plus. holy shitake mushrooms!

Houses around these parts don’t cost that much. I’ve seen (and toured during public home tours) million dollar houses but never a 5 million dollar house. That’s just crazy.

I was like – I gotta see this shiz. I jumped onto the internet and used my awesome googling skills to find a slideshow/virtual tour or whatever because I wanted to see that house! I found a few actually.

spoiler alert – it’s so over the top, the thing is in orbit.

another spoiler – it looks like Elvis puked all over it.

Below is a link to the best virtual tour I found. A few bright spots to look for – the pirate statue collection and other statues (these people really like statues) and the STAR WARS game room, which is actually pretty awesome.

Parts of it remind me of The House on the Rock. Below is a link to that photo gallery for the House on the Rock. I would like to visit it one day. I wonder if the owners of the 5 million dollar house are fans. Be sure to click through the photo gallery if you want the full virtual experience.

I saw Prometheus in Imax 3D this weekend. woo! I saw it by myself, which was kind of interesting because I’m pretty sure I’ve never done that before.

Anyway. The movie is a about some archaeologists who notice similarities between cave paintings in Scotland (I think) and other works by various ancient cultures on different continents. They all depict a being pointing to stars in a certain arrangement.

The archaeologists believe this image is both a map and an invitation for humankind to visit a planet. Flash forward some years, and they’re on an expedition to the planet in search of beings they believe created humans. Hilarity ensues. Ok, not so much hilarity as wonder and some carnage.

There are some great characters in this movie. Great characters and what I thought was top notch acting. Noomi Rapace (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, US version) plays Elizabeth Shaw, one of the archaeologists. She goes through a lot of crap and somehow manages to hang onto her dream of finding the origin of human life, no matter the consequences.

David the android is the best character, however. He is forever robot calm and has a complex personality. His most appealing trait is how unpredictable he can be. His interactions with the people around him are motivated by anything from aspiration to be human to contempt. He’s heroic and heartless at the same time.

I didn’t really dig Charlize Theron’s character, Meredith Vickers. It was almost as if the writers created her and then weren’t quite sure what to do with her. She has a few significant moments, but other than that…meh.

Of course, the special effects were huge and amazing. Those are the technical terms. Spaceships, storms, scenery. big, big, big. Perfectly executed, I thought. I spotted no weirdness, no halfass cgi.

There was a somewhat significant level of weirdness and different types of alien life, but I did expect to see more alien action.

So, bottom line, Prometheus was good. I would have liked to have seen more nerve grinding action and suspense like what I remember the Sigourney Weaver alien movies as having, but it was still very good. A-

I’m also excited because today is Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday. Mmmm…Friday.

I hope you will excuse my lack of blog presence this week. I’m working on editing and some other projects.

I was on Goodreads today to add a book to my “currently reading” shelf and when I found it and saw the cover, I cracked up. The book is the sequel to the Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Here is the cover.

Naked dude. Punching aliens. LOL!!! Oh my!

This weekend, I plan to go see Prometheus in Imax 3D. I am confident that it will be awesome. I should have a review of it Monday if all goes as planned.